The interplay between protein phosphorylation and ubiquitylation in regulating the signalling networks of the innate immune system
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Dundee
Abstract
The innate immune system is vital for defence against infection by microbial pathogens, such as bacteria and viruses, but if this system is deregulated, or fails to stop inflammation once it has done its job, it can cause a variety of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. These include arthritis, asthma, colitis, lupus, psoriasis and sepsis, type 2 diabetes and even cancers of the blood, such as lymphomas. An understanding of how the immune system is switched on and switched off is therefore vital if we are going to be able to develop improved drugs for the treatment of these diseases that affect millions of individuals worldwide.
My laboratory employs state-of-the-art technologies to study this problem and, over the past two years, three Ph.D. students working under my supervision with MRC support have made important discoveries that have identified novel components of the system and shown for the first time how they can be targeted to treat several conditions, including a type of blood cancer, called DLBCL, as well as the lethal effects of flu as well as
sepsis.
My laboratory employs state-of-the-art technologies to study this problem and, over the past two years, three Ph.D. students working under my supervision with MRC support have made important discoveries that have identified novel components of the system and shown for the first time how they can be targeted to treat several conditions, including a type of blood cancer, called DLBCL, as well as the lethal effects of flu as well as
sepsis.
Technical Summary
The innate immune system is vital for defence against infection by microbial pathogens, such as bacteria and viruses, but the overproduction of inflammatory mediators, or the failure to resolve inflammation once it has served its purpose, causes many inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. They include arthritis, asthma, colitis, lupus, psoriasis and sepsis and even blood cancers, such as lymphomas. An understanding of the signalling networks that control the production of inflammatory mediators at a molecular level is therefore critical to identify key targets for the development of drugs to boost resistance to infection or to suppress inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.
Protein phosphorylation and ubiquitylation are the two key post-translational modifications that are deployed to regulate the innate immune system. The MRC supported research in my laboratory is focused on understanding how the key transcription factor NF-?B and Interferon Regulatory Factors (IRFs) are switched on to control the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and interferon ??(IFN?). Over the past two years significant advances in understanding how NF-?B and the IRFs are regulated have been made by the three Ph.D. students in my lab, who are supported by MRC Unit funding. My student Sam Strickson has made important contributions towards the discovery that a hybrid ubiquitin chain, comprising both Lys63-linked and Met1-linked ubiquitin oligomers, is critical to switch on the I?B kinases (IKKs) that activate NF-?B and that the formation of Lys63-linked ubiquitin chains is a prerequisite for the formation of Met1-linked ubiquitin chains. Sam discovered that the anti-inflammatory drug BAY 11-7082 blocks the activation of the IKKs by inactivating the E2 conjugating enzymes required for the formation of Lys63-linked and Met1-linked ubiquitin oligomers. Excitingly, he also found that this drug is effective in destroying cancerous cells from patients with Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma, one of the least treatable forms of this blood cancer. My student Jiang Zhang has discovered that the activation of the IKKs requires two different protein kinases that phosphorylate distinct serine residues in the “activation loops” of the IKKs, a control mechanism that may be of general significance. Another student Nazma Malik has made the unexpected discovery that a drug developed as an inhibitor of the protein kinase PLK1 for the treatment of cancer, blocks the production of IFN? during viral infection by a novel mechanism that is independent of PLK1 and which prevents the recruitment of RNA polymerase II to the IFN? gene promoter. This drug and other molecules with a similar mechanism of action may have therapeutic potential for treating the lethal effects or flu and/or sepsis in which the over-production of IFN? is a major contributory factor.
Protein phosphorylation and ubiquitylation are the two key post-translational modifications that are deployed to regulate the innate immune system. The MRC supported research in my laboratory is focused on understanding how the key transcription factor NF-?B and Interferon Regulatory Factors (IRFs) are switched on to control the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and interferon ??(IFN?). Over the past two years significant advances in understanding how NF-?B and the IRFs are regulated have been made by the three Ph.D. students in my lab, who are supported by MRC Unit funding. My student Sam Strickson has made important contributions towards the discovery that a hybrid ubiquitin chain, comprising both Lys63-linked and Met1-linked ubiquitin oligomers, is critical to switch on the I?B kinases (IKKs) that activate NF-?B and that the formation of Lys63-linked ubiquitin chains is a prerequisite for the formation of Met1-linked ubiquitin chains. Sam discovered that the anti-inflammatory drug BAY 11-7082 blocks the activation of the IKKs by inactivating the E2 conjugating enzymes required for the formation of Lys63-linked and Met1-linked ubiquitin oligomers. Excitingly, he also found that this drug is effective in destroying cancerous cells from patients with Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma, one of the least treatable forms of this blood cancer. My student Jiang Zhang has discovered that the activation of the IKKs requires two different protein kinases that phosphorylate distinct serine residues in the “activation loops” of the IKKs, a control mechanism that may be of general significance. Another student Nazma Malik has made the unexpected discovery that a drug developed as an inhibitor of the protein kinase PLK1 for the treatment of cancer, blocks the production of IFN? during viral infection by a novel mechanism that is independent of PLK1 and which prevents the recruitment of RNA polymerase II to the IFN? gene promoter. This drug and other molecules with a similar mechanism of action may have therapeutic potential for treating the lethal effects or flu and/or sepsis in which the over-production of IFN? is a major contributory factor.
Organisations
- University of Dundee, United Kingdom (Lead Research Organisation)
- University College London, United Kingdom (Collaboration)
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Collaboration)
- Ono Pharmaceutical (Collaboration)
- Pfizer, United States (Collaboration)
- University of Glasgow, United Kingdom (Collaboration)
- Francis Crick Institute (Collaboration)
- University of Kentucky (Collaboration)
People |
ORCID iD |
Philip Cohen (Principal Investigator) |
Publications

Akbar N
(2015)
An important role for A20-binding inhibitor of nuclear factor-kB-1 (ABIN1) in inflammation-mediated endothelial dysfunction: an in vivo study in ABIN1 (D485N) mice
in Arthritis Research & Therapy

Arrowsmith CH
(2015)
The promise and peril of chemical probes.
in Nature chemical biology

Bakshi S
(2017)
Identification of TBK1 complexes required for the phosphorylation of IRF3 and the production of interferon ß.
in The Biochemical journal

Caster DJ
(2013)
ABIN1 dysfunction as a genetic basis for lupus nephritis.
in Journal of the American Society of Nephrology : JASN

Clark K
(2013)
Molecular control of the NEMO family of ubiquitin-binding proteins.
in Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology

Cohen P
(2017)
The role of hybrid ubiquitin chains in the MyD88 and other innate immune signalling pathways
in Cell Death & Differentiation

Cohen P
(2014)
The TLR and IL-1 signalling network at a glance.
in Journal of cell science

Cohen P
(2013)
Kinase drug discovery--what's next in the field?
in ACS chemical biology

Cohen P
(2015)
Bill Whelan's impact on my life and career.
in Molecular aspects of medicine

Cohen P
(2014)
Immune diseases caused by mutations in kinases and components of the ubiquitin system.
in Nature immunology
Description | Another grant from Ono |
Amount | £419,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Ono Pharmaceutical |
Sector | Private |
Country | Japan |
Start | 01/2017 |
End | 12/2019 |
Description | Elucidation of mechanisms that restrict the activation of Toll-like receptors and the IL-1 receptor to prevent inflammatory and autoimmune disease |
Amount | £1,229,672 (GBP) |
Funding ID | MR/R021406/1 |
Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2018 |
End | 03/2023 |
Description | Grant to MRC funded postdoc in lab |
Amount | £15,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Tenovus Cancer Care |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2016 |
End | 09/2017 |
Description | New research grant from the pharmaceutical industry |
Amount | £200,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Ono Pharmaceutical |
Sector | Private |
Country | Japan |
Start | 01/2016 |
End | 12/2018 |
Description | PhD |
Amount | £113,156 (GBP) |
Funding ID | PHD-770/2014 |
Organisation | Medical Research Scotland |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 08/2015 |
End | 08/2019 |
Description | Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award |
Amount | £1,674,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Wellcome Trust |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2013 |
End | 03/2018 |
Description | David Powell |
Organisation | University of Kentucky |
Department | Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy Center |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We have provided David Powell with a lupus prone mouse line that we have developed |
Collaborator Contribution | David Powell is a nephrologist who has analysed the kidney damage that occurs in these mice in great detail |
Impact | . |
Start Year | 2013 |
Description | Henning Walczak |
Organisation | University College London |
Department | Department of Geography |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We are studying TLR3 signalling using macrophages from HOIP knock-out mice provided by henning Walczak |
Collaborator Contribution | .Provision of HOIP knockout mice |
Impact | . |
Start Year | 2015 |
Description | Iain Macinnes |
Organisation | University of Glasgow |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Collaboration has only just been set up. The aim is to test a novel idea about how to identify patients destined to develop lupus before they are aware that this will happen. |
Collaborator Contribution | . |
Impact | . |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | Nathanael Gray |
Organisation | Dana-Farber Cancer Institute |
Country | United States |
Sector | Hospitals |
PI Contribution | We have used many protein kinase inhibitors developed by Nathanael Gray to advance a number of our projects |
Collaborator Contribution | Provision of protein kinase inhibitors with defined specificities |
Impact | Several papers have been published (see publication list). The projects are multidisciplinary and combined Nathanael Gray's expertise in Chemistry with our expertise cell signalling and the innate immune system. |
Start Year | 2013 |
Description | Ono Pharmaceutical Company Collaborative Research Project |
Organisation | Ono Pharmaceutical |
Country | Japan |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Investigating the therapeutic potential of inhibiting the SIK family of protein kinase |
Collaborator Contribution | Production of compounds and animal studies, secondment of staff from Japan to Dundee |
Impact | Increased research funding for my laboratory over the next two years. The collaboration is inter disiplinary involving mouse genetics, animal studies, cell signaling, biochemistry and chemical biology. |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Steve Ley |
Organisation | Francis Crick Institute |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We are studying the mechanism by which mice expressing a ubiquitin-binding defective mutant of ABIN2 develop intestinal inflammation |
Collaborator Contribution | Steve Ley our collaborator has provided an antibody that recognises ABIn2 and has provide advice that has been useful in advancing this project |
Impact | . |
Start Year | 2016 |
Description | Vikram Rao |
Organisation | Pfizer Inc |
Country | United States |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | We have used mouse genetics to validate the protein kinases IRAK1 and IRAK4 as drug targets for the treatment and/or prevention of lupus |
Collaborator Contribution | Vikram Rao has providing a small molecule inhibitor of IRAK4 to studying the physiological roles of this protein kinase and to test its efficacy in a mouse model of lupus |
Impact | A paper has been written and submitted for publication |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | 8th World Conference on Waldenstrom's Lymphoma |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | On the evening of August 16th Philip Cohen gave the closing lecture of the 8th International Workshop on Waldenstrom's Lymphoma in the Churchill rooms of the Houses of Parliament in London. Waldenstrom's lymphoma is caused by mutations in the protein MyD88, and 95% of the patients who are afflicted by this disease express the same mutant in which the leucine residue at position 265 is changed to proline. MyD88 is an essential adaptor protein in the signalling networks that are triggered by the binding of bacterial and viral components to Toll-Like Receptors or by the interaction of interleukins 1, 18 and 33 with their receptors. Philip's talk to an audience that mainly comprised patients with Waldenstrom's lymphoma, their physicians, relatives and friends, focused on how MyD88 was discovered, and its key role in the innate immune system that is vital for protection against infection by microbial pathogens, especially during childhood. He also explained how the hyper-activation of the MyD88-dependent signalling network can lead to autoimmune diseases, such as lupus, and how its constitutive activation caused by the MyD88[Leu265Pro] mutation leads to lymphoma. The talk was followed by a formal dinner in the Churchill rooms, at which Philip and Tricia Cohen were the guests of honour. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | Conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Conference on Kinases in Drug Discovery, Berlin, Germany, May 2014 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | Demonstrating practical experiments to primary school children |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | 2 Postdocs employed on the grant (Marta Lopez-Pelaez & Juanma Ortiz-Guerrero) showed 10-12 year old children at Baldragon Academy, Dundee how to identify blood types, assay enzymes and demonstrated the concepts of pH, muscle fatigue and the reflex actions of the brain in 5 seperate visit to the school during 2015. In a further visit to St Pius school, Juanma explained to 7-8 year olds what microbes are and the importance of washing their hands. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | German TV interview |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | In 2016 I gave an interview to a German TV channel about the potential impact of Brexit on UK Science. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | Interview with ZDF (German National Public Broadcasting) Regarding Scottish Referendum |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | ZDF wished to interview Professor Cohen regarding the risks for life sciences in an independent Scotland for their European affairs programme that wished to discuss an economic case for and against independence. Sir Philip's signature on an open letter and viewpoints expressed, while his own, brought to light in the general public, the potential deleterious impact a 'Yes' vote would have had upon Scottish scientific research funding. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
URL | http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek#/hauptnavigation/startseite |
Description | Keynote Lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Symposium on Regulatory Biology and Stress Responses (Singapore,October 2015) Keynote lecture |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Keynote Lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 1st Frankfurt conference on Ubiquitin and Autophagy (July 2016, Frankfurt) Keynote Lecture |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | Keynote Lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | International Conference on Clinical Sciences and Drug Discovery (July 2016, Dundee, Scotland) Keynote Lecture |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | Keynote Lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics Keynote Lecture (Glasgow, August 2015) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Keynote Lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The Claude Klee Memorial Symposium, National Instititutes of Health, Bethesda, USA Keynote Lecture (November 2017) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Keynote Lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Meeting of the JBKlebsen Foundation (Bekkjarvik, Norway October 2016)Keynote Lecture |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | Lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The international auto-inflammatory diseases conference (Cyprus, May 2017) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The Vallee Lecture, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA (November 2013) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
Description | Lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The UK and Ireland NF-kappaB meeting (Newcastle, June 2017) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The Albert Einstein World Award of Science Lecture (Aalto University, Helsinki, November 2014) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | Lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Keystone Symposium on Ubiquitin (March 2016, Whistler Mountain, BC Canada) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | Lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | UK and Ireland biannual conference on NF-kappaB (Glasgow, June 2015) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Signaling in Inflammation and Immunity (VIB Ghent, October 2014) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | Lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The Landmarks in Cell Signaling lecture, Instituto de Bioquímica Médica Leopoldo de Meis Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (May 2014) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | Lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Kinome III to mark the retirement of Brian Hemmings Keynote Lecture (Basel, September 2014) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | Lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | British Society for Immunology (Brighton, UK December 2014). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | Lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Harden Conference on Protein Kinases in Health and Disease, Winchester , UK (September 2015) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | I gave a lecture at the 6th Annual Donald B. McCormick Lecture, Emory University, Georgia, USA |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
Description | Lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Shanghaitech SIAIS Bioforum 2014 on Cellular Processing of Information (Shanghai, China, November 2014) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | Lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Annual Symposium of the Centre for Life Sciences (Beijing November, 2015) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The Oliver Smithies Lecture, The Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Toronto, Canada (April 2014) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | Lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The FASEB Conference on Protein Kinase and Protein Phosphorylation (Cambridge UK, August 2017) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Lecture at the Orkney International Science Festival 2015 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Sir Philip Cohen gave a lecture at the Orkney Science Festival. Entitled "Protein Kinase Inhibitors The Major Drugs of the 21st Century". The lecture described the remarkable impact that these drugs are having on the treatment of some cancers and discussed their likely future impact on the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The lecture also explained how fundamental research performed in the MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit had contributed to this area and helped to change the perception of protein kinases as drug targets. The audience, consisting of locals, as well as an international contingent of visitors, was engaged and asked numerous questions about the cellular processes Professor Cohen spoke of. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Lecture at the University of South Alabama |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The Charles M. Baugh Lecture in Basic Medical Sciences, University of SouthAlabama, Mobile, USA |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010,2013 |
Description | New Drugs for the 21st Century |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | "Philip Cohen gave a talk about kinase drug discovery to the Scotland International Group at the Gleneagles Hotel Scotland on Friday November 29th 2013. Entitled "New Drugs for the 21st Century". The audience of 60 included the CEOs and CFOs of 20% of the UK's FTSE 100 companies, the Brazilian and Russian Ambassadors, the former UK Ambassador to the USA, the former Secretary General of NATO), Sir the former head of UK Government Operations, and Scotland's only two billionaires." Sir Philip's talk stimulated much discussion as he recounted the research being undertaken in Dundee and the potential of many of the targets torwards therapeutic development. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | Public lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | I gave the Pehr Edman Edman Lecture to the general public at St Vincent's Institute, Melbourne, Australia in June 2016 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | https://www.svi.edu.au/news/signals_of_success_the_2016_pehr_edman_lecture/ |
Description | Publicity arising from the new collaboration with Ono Pharmaceuticals |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
Results and Impact | Following a press release, Philip Cohen was interviewed by Scottish Television, which appeared on Scottish Tv in the evening. He was also interviewed by two local Dundee radio stations, Wave1 and Radio Tay, and these interviews were broadcast throughout the day. Newspaper articles appeared in the Dundee Evening Telegraph and the Dundee Courier. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | Scotland: For Richer or Poorer? |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Professor Sir Philip Cohen will be featured on Robert Peston's BBC2 Documentary 'Scotland: For Richer or Poorer' airing tonight at 9pm on BBC2. How will independence affect Dundee's reputation for excellence in life sciences? Sir Philip's signature on an open letter and viewpoints expressed, while his own, brought to light in the general public, the potential deleterious impact a 'Yes' vote would have had upon Scottish scientific research funding. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b049b89z/scotland-for-richer-or-poorer |
Description | Scottish Referendum - Open Letter |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | "A group of eminent Scottish medical experts have warned that independence would seriously damage research funding for Scotland's universities and medical schools. The open letter from 14 experts, including senior staff from all five of the country's main medical schools, said they had ""grave concerns"" that Scotland's world-leading biomedical and life sciences research would suffer if Scotland ""sleepwalks"" into leaving the UK. The letter, coordinated by Sir David Carter, a former chief medical officer in Scotland, said Scottish universities did disproportionately well out of the UK's research funding system and from the UK's charitable and medical foundation grants. " Sir Philip's signature on an open letter and viewpoints expressed, while his own, brought to light in the general public, the potential deleterious impact a 'Yes' vote would have had upon Scottish scientific research funding. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
URL | http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/may/23/scottish-independence-research-funding-medical-exper... |
Description | Society meeting |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Biochemical Society Meeting on Signaling - from Structure to Function (York, July 2013) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
Description | Student's important protein discovery could help fight cancer |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Jiazhen Zhang, a research student in Professor Sir Philip Cohen's laboratory at the University of Dundee, has uncovered how the protein complex, called NF-?B, is activated. The results are published in July, 2014. Research being undertaken in the Cohen lab was discussed by the broader lay community in an effort to share the impact of these studies |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
URL | http://news.stv.tv/tayside/282195-jiazhen-zhang-at-university-of-dundee-publishes-research-on-nf-b/ |
Description | Summer School |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Summer School on Pathogen-Host Interactions at Cellular Barriers (June 2014, Munster, Germany). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | Symposium |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The Koch Cancer Symposium MIT, Boston USA (November 2013) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
Description | Symposium |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | 11th International Symposium on Mass Spectrometry. Keynote Lecture (San Francisco, August 2014) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | Symposium |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Symposium to mark Bill Whelan's 90th Birthday (Miami November 2014) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | Symposium |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Vallee Foundation Symposium on Protein Homeostasis, Metabolism & Cancer (Boston, USA, August 2014). |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | Symposium |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | How cells communicate. A symposium in celebration of Tony Pawson's impact on science. Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Toronto, Canada (May 2014) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | Teaching young children about microbes and the immune system |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Nicola Darling and Kristopher Clark, postdoctoral researchers employed on the grant, participated in an event called "Incredible Immunology", which was a two day public outreach programme, organised by the School of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee. It took place at the Dundee Science Centre and was aimed at introducing the immune system and the ways in which research is carried out in this field. The first day was targeted at primary school children and about 125 attended, whilst the second day was attended by members of the general public, mostly families. Nicol Darling also participated in Open Doors Day in which the School of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee shows the general public around the building. As part of this event members of the public were invited to learn more about the research being carried out at the MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit with about 100 people attending. The main topics were the brain and cancer introduced through interactive games and opther activities. Nicola Darling was also involved in teaching 160 S1 pupils (aged 11-12 years) at the Baldragon Academy high school. The aim of her class on was to help the students to improve their understanding of acids, alkalis and pH, and to encourage their enthusiasm for science by performing experiments. In addition Nicola demonstrated a more complex experiment and answered questions from the children about careers in science. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | National Cancer Research Centre of Ireland Workshop (Dublin, June 2013) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |